Title: “Nassau Sound Tarpon”
Caption: An undiscovered fishery awaits tarpon fishermen at Amelia Island’s “Nassau Sound” where shallow bars, bridges and deep sloughs are a magnet for summer “Silver Kings”.
A mid incoming tide attracted schooling mullet and diving birds at the footsteps of Amelia Island’s Nassau Sound. Swelling breakers at nearby beaches gathered nervous schools of silver mullet in the surf, tempting tarpon fishermen to cast their mono woven nets. Just outside the breakers, large schools of menhaden made a dark, cloudy image just under the surface. With a light west wind and early morning in-coming tide, made for perfect Northeast Florida tarpon fishing.
Dennis Lenahan and I had turned down the opportunity to cast net mullet in what I referred to as dangerous surf. A few fishing seasons ago our fishing party witnessed a small boat become swamped by a large “Breaker” that literally crashed into their 20-foot open fishing boat. Luckily the fishermen were able to power out into deep water where their bilge and a pair of five-gallon buckets soon floated their fishing platform properly.
More importantly, nearby schools of menhaden indicated easy targets for
my boat’s 8-foot, 3/8th’s –inch, mesh cast net. After filling a cooler with
menhaden and placing fifty hand selected menhaden in my boats live well, Dennis and I were soon anchored and waiting for nearby tarpon to find our barbed menhaden.
Typically I will anchor just up tide where good numbers of tarpon are rolling at the breakers. While there is little guess work where to anchor your fishing boat properly. Tarpon when on a feed will occasionally come flying from the shallow breakers while busting up schooling mullet, giving away their location.
Live menhaden were now barbed with 9/0 circle hooks, attached to a six-foot length of 80-pound fluorocarbon and 30-pound fishing gear. Live menhaden were fished both on the bottom with throw away weights and free lined weightless back to the tarpon feeding frenzy. Tarpon rods were then placed in rod holders where silver kings would have a better chance in taking the barbed tarpon bait far back in their mouth. Even seasoned tarpon fishermen will have the sudden urge to set the hook too soon when using circle hooks. I have found by leaving the tarpon rods in the rod holders, foraging tarpon will set the hook themselves after taking a barbed tarpon bait.
Literally minutes after anchoring our open fishing boat and beginning to discard dead menhaden from our boat’s cooler making an appetizing chum slick, a 100- pound plus tarpon took one our tarpon baits and was now leaping frantically trying to dislodge the saltwater circle hook.
“Take the rod,” I encouraged Dennis. “I will retrieve the anchor if needed and navigate the boat. I will however leave one barbed tarpon bait out just in case we have the pleasure of tangling with two tarpon at once!”
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Fortunately Dennis’ tarpon stayed right in the same area while making several energy draining leaps only 30-75 yards away from our anchored tarpon skiff. And as luck had it, just as Dennis was “Pumping” his tried tarpon close to our skiff, a second tarpon hit my barbed menhaden and for a brief few moments, both Dennis and I were enjoying some of Florida’s very best tarpon fishing action at undiscovered “Nassau Sound”.
After releasing both tarpon, the school of tarpon moved from the shallow bar to the nearby beaches where large mullet schools began migrating with the falling tide to deep water.
After retrieving our skiff’s anchor, we once again began our hunt for Nassau Sound tarpon.
Northeast Florida’s Nassau Sound offers some of the sunshine state’s best tarpon fishing during the summer fishing season. All in part to the many ambush points including bridges, sand bars, deep sloughs and deep channels that feed this tarpon rich sound. Also keep in mind that forage foods including silver mullet, menhaden, blue crabs and green backs are also plentiful at Nassau Sound as well. The water clarity is cleaner at Nassau Sound compared to nearby Cumberland Sound located at the northern tip of Amelia Island and the St. John’s Inlet, located just a few miles south of Nassau Sound. Put together a variety of ambush points, plenty of forage foods and clean water and you have what many seasoned saltwater fishermen relate to as summer tarpon fishing at its very best.
One of the more consistent tarpon haunts at Nassau Sound includes the “George Grady” fishing pier where tarpon regularly ambush schooling mullet as they migrate past bridge pilings. Both the north end and south end
of the popular fishing pier hold tarpon when the tide is falling and during the
last of the incoming tide. I personally prefer the north end of the pier where the bridge is located on a point of land, affording for a perfect ambush point.
Anchoring your boat up tide of the bridge where tarpon are crashing mullet is key while free lining live mullet back under the bridge. Here I will attach 65-pound braided fishing line directly to my 9/0 circle hook instead of using a mono leader. The abrasive resistant braid will not part when the tarpon takes your fishing line around a bridge piling.
Bridge fishermen regularly hook tarpon, but very rarely land their catch. I do know of a few fishermen that will actually cast the Mullet pattern S25MR MirrOlure from the bridge, while enjoying a few exciting leaps from their hooked silver king, then hoping the tarpon dislodges their saltwater plug!
Amelia Island’s Captain Danny Flynn scores consistently for tarpon weighing over the 100-pound mark while tarpon fishing along the beaches located just northern side of Nassau Sound.
“The best time to target beach tarpon at “Nassau Sound” is during the hottest portion of the summer and when the mullet schools are thick on the beach,” Captain Danny Flynn said. “I’ll target areas of the beach where I can actually see mullet schooling almost right in the wet sand! Typically I will find these shallow beach mullet right at the very southern tip of Amelia Island and just north of the “Breakers”.
Captain Danny Flynn guided his clients to Nassau Sound tarpon this past summer weighing to the 200-pound mark, while tarpon ranging from 80-100 pounds are average for these fishy Northeast Florida tarpon waters.
“If I can pick a tide to fish for Nassau Sound tarpon, it would definitely
be the high, out going tide,” Captain Danny Flynn said. “Once the tide begins to fall, the large schools of mullet that were schooling in close to the beach will begin to migrate offshore from the surf to deep ocean waters. This acts as a huge magnet for Nassau Sound tarpon as sliver kings weighing from 80-200 pounds will begin ambushing the mullet during their deep water migration.”
“Certainly a big plus is finding large pods of menhaden in the same area where good numbers of mullet are leaving the shallow surf for deep water. Here tarpon will feed both on the thickly schooled menhaden and the major mullet migration as well.”
For tarpon fishing tackle Captain Danny Flynn prefers 8-foot spinning rod. Spinning rods with a medium light tip and a medium heavy butt section are preferred by Captain Flynn and with good reasoning.
“When tarpon are in the menhaden pods, I will instruct my clients to watch for a single tarpon that is swimming along the outside edge of the school,” Captain Danny Flynn said. “This is when the long 8-foot spinning rod and a big spooled spinning reel come in handy. My clients will then need to make a long casts with either a live mullet, or menhaden and exactly right in the face of the tarpon.”
Captain Danny Flynn’s tarpon tackle also includes 65-pound braided fishing line with a six-foot section of 80-pound fluorocarbon shock leader. A Mustad “Demon”, 9/0 live circle hook completes Flynn’s terminal tarpon tackle.
When attaching a heavy mono shock leader to the main fishing line first tie a “Bimini Twist” with your main fishing line. The “Bimini Twist” is then attached to the heavy mono shock leader using an “Albright Knot”.
Use a “Nail Knot” when tying the heavy mono leader to your tarpon hook.
When making long casts to tarpon feeding on the edges of menhaden
schools, the circle hook is barbed just behind the dorsal fin of the live
menhaden, or mullet. While tarpon fishing from an anchored boat, live baits are barbed through the bottom of the mouth and right out through the top of the mouth. Snipping the tail off from live baits causes the live bait to swim erratically, while making an easy catch for nearby tarpon. Also the tail-less bait casts much further.
During low tide periods, when the tide is half way out, or just starting to come back in, Nassau Sound tarpon will hold on the ocean side of the many shallow sand bars that make up this fishy inlet. A red channel can identifies a deep channel that feeds Nassau Sound and is located directly east of the popular inlet. Tarpon tend to hold here during low tidal phases as well. Captain Flynn and area tarpon guides will anchor their boats just east of the red can and chum for tarpon while free lining live mullet, or menhaden.
Shrimp boats also work their shrimp nets just northeast of the shallow inlet where water depths drop off to 25- feet of water. Here tarpon fishermen will wait until a shrimp boat pulls in their nets and begins discarding their bi-catch back into the ocean. Tarpon fishermen will need to take special precautions when navigating close to the working shrimp boats and free lining their barbed tarpon baits into the shrimp boat’s chum slick.
Captain Mike Kogan has taken kayak fishing to the next level by launching his kayak in the surf while targeting Nassau Sound tarpon.
“Kayak tarpon fishing is as exciting as it gets,” Captain Mike Kogan said. “After launching my “Malibu Extreme” kayak into the surf, locating
menhaden schools is key. Employing spinning tackle outfitted with a small
weight and #4-treble hook, I will cast the weighted treble hook into the school of menhaden, foul hooking the live menhaden for tarpon baits. A live menhaden is then barbed right through both eye sockets using a circle hook then cast right into the middle or outside of the of the “Pogy” school,
depending where the tarpon are crashing pogies. I also frequently attach a “Popping Cork” some two to three feet above the barbed live bait when keeping the live pogy close to the surface.”
For tarpon tackle Captain Mike Kogan recommends an 8-foot, 30-pound class boat rod paired with a 4/0 fishing reel spooled with 50-pound braided fishing line. A six-foot-section of 80-pound fluorocarbon shock leader is then attached between the braided fishing line and 10/0 circle hook. Once Mike Kogan hooks up to a “First Coast” tarpon, Kogan drops overboard a small sea anchor to slow down his “Tarpon Sleigh Ride”! Kogan also stores a collapsible anchor in his kayak which can be used to help stabilize the fight of the tarpon as well.
Mike Kogan heads the very successful “Jacksonville Kayak Fishing Tournament” which annually draws over 400- kayaks. For information, visit www.jaxkayakfishing.com.
The “Talbot Island” state park and boat ramp located at the south end of the “George Grady” fishing pier offers easy access for boaters to Nassau Sound. Area tackle stores include the “Bait House”, “Amelia Island bait & Tackle” and “Atlantic Seafood”.
For area guide services, visit www.ameliaangler.com
